BOOKS:

I interview Jonathan Safran Foer about his new non-fiction book Eating Animals. Foer gives an exceptionally good interview—I didn't have room to print it all in this week's paper, but the full transcript is online now. His book is refreshingly non-polarizing, offering a potential bridge between vegan/vegetarian and "ethical meat eating" communities. As he put it in our interview, "I thought [my book] was going to be a straightforward case for vegetarianism. Which it isn’t. It’s probably a case for vegetarianism, but it’s not altogether straightforward."

Courtney Ferguson, our resident expert on all things disgusting, reviews Zombies: A Record of the Year of Infection.

John Irving has a new book out. Ned Lannamann's verdict? Not terrible! Pretty good, in fact. Irving will be reading at the Bagdad next Wednesday—$28 admission gets you a copy of the book.

And finally, a short review of Jess Walter's The Financial Lives of the Poets, a poppy new novel that borrows its plot points directly from today's headlines (mortgage crises, collapse of newspaper industry), yet avoids being as depressing as it probably should be. Also, proposes "pot dealer" as new career path for displaced journalists. (I'm listening....) Walter is reading tonight at Powell's downtown—also tonight, at the Cedar Hills Store, Artemis Fowl author Eoin Colfer reads from And Another Thing..., his new authorized Hitchhiker's Guide sequel. (Skimming it, it struck me as sort of rote and stilted, but admittedly I didn't spend much time with it.)

And if you're out and about, tonight is the 16th anniversary of In Other Words Bookstore, featuring readings from Ariel Gore Ariel Gore and Hope Hitchcock, and music from This Charming Man and Marisa Anderson. That's at the Q Center, 4115 N. Mississipi, 6 pm, $7-30 sliding scale donation

THEATER:

Did you know that the affable nerds who brought you Trek in the Park have a new show—an adaptation of the 1922 silent film Nosferatu? (And in imminent conflict-of-interest news, my boss Wm. Steven Humphrey will be trading off "special guest star" duties with former KUFO DJ/current Mercury freelancer Fatboy Roberts.) This and other Halloween-themed productions are previewed right here.

Plus, CoHo Productions continues to impress with their new production of Sam Shepard's Fool for Love.

VISUAL ART, ETC
No visual art review in the paper this week, but openings tonight include an installation from Benjamin Young at Appendix Project Space, and Vinyl Killers 7 at the Goodfoot.a